A Short History of the Labour Party, by Henry Pelling

[p025] A Short History of the Labour Party. By Henry Pelling. Macmillan, 21s. Any history of the Labour Party should essentially include an examina- tion of the activities and ideas of its rank and file as well as its leader- shiv. Henry Pelling’s ‘A Short ‘History of the Labour Party’ is con- cerned mainly with its leadership. The first and best section of the book includes the major relevant events of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and_ correctly underlines the Liberal-Radical influ- ences which indelibly marked the Labour Party from its formation and which have still not been eradicated. Students seeking a Marxist inter- pretation of Labour history will not find it in this book. To compress over 60 years of Labour history into 134 pages which also include sources of reference, further reading, and some very useful tables on the fluctuations of Labour Party member- ship, is no mean task. There are, however, many serious omissions— particularly in the section dealing with the post-Second World War period. It is puzzling, in view of the history of the League of Nations and the advent of the 1939-45 war, that the author can describe Labour’s 1917 Memorandum of War Aims, inspired by Henderson, as ‘far-sighted recommendations’. References to Henderson’s work as Foreign Secre- tary in the 1929 Government indicate that Mr. Pelling does not appreciate that ‘ effective international agrke- ments’ (my emphasis) could never be reached between’ capitalist states precisely because such agreements are subject to the vicissitudes of the capitalist economic system. The book suffers from its lack of political analysis of the recorded events. There is no examination of the disaffiliation of the ILP, its political role or that of the Socialist League inside the Labour Party. If the author understands the historical significance of centrism he does not attempt to explain it. The social- chauvinism of the Labour leaders is ignored. The reader will gain the impression that the passage of the 1945 Labour Government was much _ smoother than was really the case. Discontent in the ranks on the housing question, the un-socialist nationalization measures, the fuel crisis, Cripps’ austerity programme, foreign policy and the continuation of colonial exploitation, gave rise to the forma- tion of the Socialist Fellowship, of which no mention is made. No mention either of the weekly paper ‘Socialist Outlook’ which pursued a 63 Marxist policy and stood alone in its opposition to military intervention in Korea and policy for the victory of the North Koreans. The failure of Bevan and the Labour centrists to support the road haulage men in their opposition to denationalization, which, if developed could have brought down the Tory Government, is not deemed worthy of attention. Referring to Bevan’s famous Brighton (1957) speech the author has seemingly forgotten that this was provoked by the equally famous Norwood resolution, which three years later was endorsed at Scarborough. The bans, proscriptions and expulsions of the Left since 1945 receive no attention. Labour’s youth, the most active, socialist, revolution- ary wing of the party and inseparable from its history, does not exist in the pages of Dr. Pelling’s book. Whilst the author may be unaware of the influence of the Socialist Labour League inside the Labour Party, future histories, however short, will be unable honestly to ignore it. As a chronicle of events, for quick reference, the book is a useful buy. MLS. Alienated